Southeast Indiana clinicals for Ball State nursing students
Southeast Indiana wraps around two out-of-state cities: Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties sit in the Louisville metro, and Dearborn, Ohio and Franklin counties in Cincinnati's. Kentucky-based systems run most of its larger hospitals, and Ball State's authorization map lets MS in Nursing students log hours across the river, though its certificate and DNP rules differ.
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Tell us your Ball State program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Ball State course.
Twelve counties between Louisville and Cincinnati
District 9 takes in Decatur, Franklin, Jennings, Ripley, Dearborn, Ohio, Jefferson, Switzerland, Scott, Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties: 485,931 people in the 2025 Census estimates, up 3.2% since 2020. Clark County is the largest (130,451). Jeffersonville (54,134), New Albany (37,463) and Clarksville (22,253) lead, all on the Louisville side; Greensburg and Madison follow at about 12,300 each.
Greensburg and Madison are micropolitan centers, while Jennings, Ripley, Switzerland and Scott counties belong to no metro or micro area. CMS lists 14 Medicare-certified hospitals here, five critical access.
Greensburg is roughly 63 miles from Muncie and Batesville about 77, so the NUR 681 campus day is an easy trip from there. Lawrenceburg is about 101 miles, Madison 110, Jeffersonville 166 and New Albany 168.
The Louisville side: Norton, Baptist Health Floyd and Corydon
Norton Healthcare of Louisville owns three Indiana hospitals: Norton Clark Hospital in Jeffersonville and Norton Scott Hospital in Scottsburg (critical access), renamed from Clark Memorial and Scott Memorial when Norton took full ownership in 2023, and Norton King's Daughters' Health in Madison, which joined in January 2022.
According to Norton's student experiences page, advanced practice students reach a dedicated clinical placement team by email, the preceptor is approved against the school's criteria, and preceptor-based rotations are kept for students close to finishing their program. It names no portal or deadline, does not say who finds an NP preceptor and has nothing specific to the Indiana hospitals.
Baptist Health Floyd in New Albany belongs to Kentucky's Baptist Health, whose student pages cover only its Kentucky hospitals. Harrison County Hospital in Corydon (critical access) became a county-owned Deaconess affiliate on January 1, 2026, ending its Norton tie, and has no student page either. For primary care, look to the health centers: LifeSpring Health Systems (12 HRSA-listed sites in Clark, Floyd and Scott), Family Health Center of Clark County (five in Clark, Floyd and Harrison) and Well Care Community Health (three in Clark and Scott).
Lawrenceburg, Batesville and the inland counties
St. Elizabeth Dearborn in Lawrenceburg, part of Kentucky's St. Elizabeth Healthcare, is the one hospital here with a written NP route. Its student guidelines say an NP student's rotation requires its own contract with St. Elizabeth Physicians; that group's Graduate Medical Education office handles onboarding in Clinician Nexus, and its request form must be in at least 14 days ahead of the start date. School nursing groups go through the Cincinnati-area Centralized Clinical Placement System, where historical requests come first, and St. Elizabeth's list of affiliated nursing schools names no Indiana school.
The inland critical access hospitals publish no NP process. Margaret Mary Health in Batesville moved patients into its replacement hospital on August 8, 2026. Decatur County Memorial in Greensburg runs a summer internship program, not a clinical placement route, and Ascension St. Vincent Jennings in North Vernon has no student page. INcompass Healthcare runs one health center site in Switzerland County.
Where HRSA sees primary care shortages
In HRSA's shortage files dated September 2026, Ohio County (score 11) and Franklin County (8) carry geographic primary care designations, with Jennings (11), Harrison (8), Decatur (7) and Scott (4) marked proposed for withdrawal. Low-income designations cover Jennings (14) and Jefferson (10), while Switzerland (18) and Ripley (13) are proposed for withdrawal. Switzerland's 18 is the highest primary care score in Indiana's three southern districts.
Facility designations cover the Family Health Center of Clark County, LifeSpring, the Access Medical Clinic Indiana rural health clinic and the Madison Correctional Facility. East Indiana AHEC in Batesville covers the eight eastern counties and South Central Indiana AHEC covers Clark, Floyd, Harrison and Scott, though the AHEC network's student page speaks only of medical and allied health students.
Crossing into Kentucky or Ohio
Ball State allows clinical hours only in states where your program is authorized (clinicals outside Indiana); its map splits Kentucky and Ohio by program.
| Program | Kentucky | Ohio |
|---|---|---|
| MS in Nursing (FNP, Nurse Educator, Leadership and Management) | Authorized | Authorized |
| Post-Master's Certificate FNP | Not authorized | Authorized (the handbook also names Ohio) |
| DNP | Not authorized | Not authorized |
Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio all belong to the Nurse Licensure Compact, which bears on Ball State's requirement of an active, unencumbered RN license in the state where you practice (RN license guide). Kentucky's Board of Nursing asks no approval of out-of-state programs placing students there, though preceptors for online APRN students in Kentucky need a Kentucky APRN license. Ohio's code sets no approval step, and its student exemption covers NP students supervised by an APRN acting for the program as preceptor, faculty member or teaching assistant. Ball State's list of agencies it will not use names no system in either state; the Kentucky and Ohio guides cover each side.
Course fit and why southeast Indiana students choose us
Adult primary care for NUR 634, NUR 681 and NUR 683 fits a Clark, Floyd or Scott County health center or an independent practice. NUR 682 calls for a preceptor who sees children and NUR 684 for one in women's health, and MS students may search Louisville or Cincinnati for either. The 180 hours of NUR 673 come at one and a half to two days weekly, so choose a practice you can reach every week of the term. NUR 672 can happen at your job if an RN with a master's or doctorate supervises.
Ball State expects its FNP students to take an active part in lining up placements, and faculty help when problems arise (how that works). Our placement desk searches both banks of the Ohio, checks each site against your program's authorized states before anyone signs, and knows St. Elizabeth's physician contract and Norton's placement team. We prepare the clinical packet items and the Ball State agreement for the agency's signature a semester early and keep a fallback site warm. Start with your county.
Questions Ball State students ask
Can I do Ball State FNP clinical hours in Louisville or Cincinnati?
In the MS in Nursing, yes: Ball State's map lists Kentucky and Ohio as authorized. The Post-Master's Certificate FNP is authorized in Ohio but not Kentucky, and the DNP in neither. The Kentucky or Ohio agency must still sign Ball State's standard agreement, your RN license must cover practice there, and your course faculty confirm the site fits the course.
How do NP students get a rotation at St. Elizabeth Dearborn?
Through St. Elizabeth Physicians, not the hospital's nursing school process. Its guidelines require a separate contract with St. Elizabeth Physicians, onboarding through Clinician Nexus and a request form at least 14 days before the start. Raise the contract early with Ball State's Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator.
Does Norton Healthcare take NP students at Norton Clark or King's Daughters'?
Norton's student page has a placement team for advanced practice students and says the preceptor is approved against the school's criteria. It gives no Indiana-specific process, deadline or preceptor rule, so arrive with an interested preceptor and ask Norton's team how it handles a Ball State agreement.
Which southeast Indiana counties have the worst primary care shortages?
By HRSA score, Switzerland County's low-income designation (18) is highest, though it is proposed for withdrawal. Jennings County (14, low-income) and Ohio County (11, geographic) follow among designations still in force. Expect busy preceptors in those counties and put in requests a full semester early.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Ball State's own catalog, graduate handbook, program pages and State Authorization Map, and Indiana rules. Your course faculty, your advisor and the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Ball State asks you to find your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your Ball State track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course, confirm the practice will sign Ball State's affiliation agreement, and line up a backup, so the School of Nursing can clear the site before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NUR 682, women's health forNUR 684, adult primary care forNUR 681andNUR 683 - Outside your own unit or clinic, in a state where Ball State's program is authorized
- Across Indiana, from Muncie to Evansville, and in the other states Ball State accepts
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.